GEORGE O'GORMAN: Battle of Klockner Road gets new Generals

Lauren Kelly and Kristin Voorhees Jacobs were two of the best girls basketball players when they were in high school at opposite ends of Klockner Road.

The success they enjoyed as players hasn’t followed them into the coaching ranks — at least not yet.

Which makes their first-ever coaching duel tonight at Nottingham High’s gym one of the better games on a Friday schedule dotted with some good Colonial Valley Conference matchups.

A week ago, Kelly’s Nottingham girls had won only two of their first nine and Jacobs’ Steinert Spartans were 1-8 and had lost six in a row.

Suddenly there’s more than bragging rights on the line when they tipoff at 5:30 p.m. at the Northstars gym, where both are coming off big road wins earlier in the week.

“We’re 2-8 but we looked like an 8-2 team,” Jacobs told the press soon after Steinert had put together its best game of the season to win 39-34 at West Windsor-Plainsboro North over a Knights team leading the CVC’s Colonial Division.

Since Jacobs had been the jayvee coach and assistant to North head coach Bob Boyce for six years before applying for the job at her alma mater, it was a win she’ll never forget.

“Our defense was consistent, our offense was very deliberate and we ran it well,” said Jacobs, a Hall of Famer at Steinert who later enjoyed a successful career playing at West Chester (Pa.) University.

“When we were in zone we swung the ball, made some shots and got rebounds,” Jacobs told Fish 4 Scores after deciding to go with a four-guard lineup that worked wonders. “We couldn’t make free throws but we kept rebounding the heck out of our misses,” she said.

The Spartans will need to do the same tonight because Kelly’s Northstars are on a roll, having won two of their last three and are 3-3 after an 0-4 start to the season.

They got a huge game from junior guard Stephanie Williams in a 61-27 blowout of Robbinsville as she got a start after recovering from an early-season wrist injury. She had 11 points and six rebounds to upset the Ravens, who a month ago got their first win beating Steinert by five at home.

Kelly had a feeling Williams might be ready for a big game.

“She had been coming off the bench and was our little secret weapon. We decided to start her and she did a great job,” said Kelly, who had starred in soccer and basketball at Nottingham helping the ‘Stars to their finest back-to-back seasons a decade ago and reaching the MCT final.

By winning its third game Nottingham had now matched the win total it had last season when Kelly took over in the third game and gradually made strides to rebuild the program she hd starred for.

“It’s nice to have intensity in practice now. You have more girls fighting for playing time

and there’s definitely more intensity between them. They’re definitely working hard and it’s had a noticeable effect,” said Kelly, who hopes the intensity keeps up and earns her and her rejuvenated team a win they’ll never forget.